Celebrities and other folks are interviewed yearly regarding their Christmas memories and are often asked: What does Christmas mean to you?
Almost all will answer that Christmas is about family, getting together, sitting around the Christmas tree, opening gifts, catching up with loved ones, etc.
While all these things are laudable by-products of Christmas, as we know, their comments are missing the mark.
Christmas is not about family, getting together, sharing stories, catching up with loved ones, etc.
Christmas is about one thing, and one thing only: The Son of God deigned to be born in a cave in Bethlehem for our salvation. Jesus, Incarnate Word of God, took flesh, so that we might have life eternal.
Why doesn’t anyone ever say that when they are interviewed? I often wonder this; some speculate it’s because they think faith is a “private” matter that folks don’t want to discuss. Yet, after a win, how many sports figures are first to thank their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for a victory? There is nothing “private” about the fact that Jesus Christ, Incarnate Son of God, was born of Mary, lived on earth, died, and rose from the dead to save every single person, past, present, and future. It’s a pretty public thing.
As a nation, are we completely buying into the secularization and commercialization of Christmas? Are we evolving into the belief (which merchants want us to believe) that the Christmas Season actually ends on Christmas Day because they then turn their sites to Valentine’s Day, another lucrative date on their calendar, rather than the reality that the Christmas Season begins on Christmas Day and is celebrated throughout January?
I challenge you this upcoming Christmas Season to remind yourselves, and all those around you, of what Christmas really means, to embrace and celebrate this joyous Season and proclaim it loud and proud by your words and actions.
God is With Us! S’nami Boh!
Sister Susan Sisko, OSBM
Provincial
Sisters of St. Basil the Great